Think About It: Lack Of Humanity

Athletes at UH have recently been unable to pay rent
on time or buy vital food items to help them in their conditioning quest
because the system broke down, paperwork didn't get handled, and checks didn't
get mailed out for a week or so. The Veterans Administration in Hawaii leads
all states in having the longest wait times for our military veterans to see a
primary care physician due to the system. How would you like to have to wait
almost five months to get in to see a doctor for the first time?

But where is the outrage? As always, the systems are
blamed. No one is accountable, and apparently, no one has a moral compass when
it comes to things like making sure student athletes are housed and fed
appropriately or making sure our wounded warriors have reasonable access to
health care, like most citizens of this country have. And now the politicians
are weighing in, expressing their outrage about the VA's lapses and lack of action.
That's easy- getting upset after the facts trickle out. But where was someone
in a leadership position when the practice of ignoring veteran's medical needs
first came to light? Where was someone in charge taking responsibility to fix
the problems or make sure that needs were being addressed? And where was
someone up at UH when just about anyone could have figured out that financially
beleaguered college kids wouldn't be able to pay bills or eat properly?

Nowhere, that's the answer… because communication
stunk and no upset, insider group wanted to rise above their safe, protected,
governmental position and say "this is simply wrong" loud enough for anything
to get done. And while the sorry plight of the VA and football players at UH
are surely not comparable in the big picture, they both reflect a general sense
we see far too often in bureaucracies of people in charge or in the know not
doing the right thing, or even the humane thing, and that stinks. You can't fix
a system set up by people without first fixing or replacing the people
involved. Whether you're a warrior or a wounded warrior, you deserve better. Think
about it…